August 14th, 2006

Since I have been overcome by my knitting passion I had began to have issues of where to put my projects and how to transport them to various places that I can sit and knit. (Every friggin spare moment that I have.)

Last holiday, my partner gave me a soft tool bag by "Craftsman" and it came with a small bag inside the larger bag. I was rushing around trying to find a bag and I happened to grab the tool bag by accident.

All I have to say is it worked out to my advantage. It s great bag to through a knitting book in alone with the appropriate tools for the project and away I go.

August 13th

Here is my latest project. These were felted last Saturday and took until today (Monday here in Oz) to dry. The brown ones have turned out the better pair and the grey ones will have to have another turn at the felting process. They were inadvertently left in the washer for a full cycle including cold rinses and fast spin as we had some visitors drop in and I promptly forgot them. The full cycle seems to have no adverse effects. Anyone else done this????

They are very comfy and are great to walk in but just a bit slippery on our polished floors.

Now I know that needles are a very personal preference but I'd be interested to hear which needles you prefer when working with Mohair.

I'm making this scarf/stole for my daughter & using my tortoiseshell needles but it's tough going. I'm wondering if I should spluge on some Addi Turbo's. I think bamboo will be too rough & not allow the yarn to slide on & off the needles.

Second I'm thinking of making the Hello-Yarn "cycling aran" pattern. It doesn't look too hard (except for putting in the zipper but I've got a sewing machine if it gets bad!)

Has anyone seen it, done it, or thought about it enough to recommend yarns? I'm thinking of checking out Bartlett Yarns "Fishermans Chunky" (or Bulky...whatever they call it!) Looks nice and "Manly" but cheap!

August 12th

Hey, everyone! The scheduled chat last Thursday was a big success. There will be another scheduled chat Monday night, 10PM Eastern time, August 14th.

This will be a time that you can log on and (hopefully) there will definitely be someone in teh chatroom to chat wiith. No special topic . . just anything you want to talk about . . . you knitting projects, questions, share ideas, . . . or whatever you want, with other folks that share common interests.

I made these with some super bulky Reynolds Lopi that I bought a while ago (at half price) and hadn't found a use for. Because of it's weight I used it single stranded. I've felted the regular bulky Reynolds Lopi many times with great results and I thought I would get the same percent of shrinkage with this, but it looks like I was incorrect. They took about ten passes through the wash and one pass through the dryer to get them about as shrunken down as they're going to get and although made for a men's size 11 are more likely to fit a size 13 to 15. I didn't put much effort into shaping them while wet because I was disappointed about the size, but I think I still like the way they turned out, and they will make a nice present for my brother who's feet should fit in them perfectly. I just need to make another pair for his wife!

I am so happy with the response that has come from my forum topic about dish clothes. It has produced some interesting conversation and some links to great sites that have many patterns on them..

The only down fall to this is that my wife feels that now I am spending as much time with her as I should, but hey I can't help it I love to knit and it is hard to set the needles down once I start knitting.

Well I am off to go for a bike ride with my wife, we both finally each have a bike to ride.